


luminary objects

by jarynw02



Category: Fruits Basket, Haikyuu!!, Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst, BAKUGO BOKUTO AND KAKASHI ARE BROTHERS THAT PART IS IMPORTANT, Chaos, Chuunin Exams, Crossover madness, Everyone lives, F/F, F/M, Let Me Live My Life, M/M, Naruto Universe - Freeform, Not literally, Self-Indulgent, because of course I did, but still lots of angst, completely winging it, hatake brothers, kageyama is an uchiha, katsuki hates his brothers surprise, kenma is shikamarus brother lmfao, lol i forgot i made itachi and oikawa best friends, mina and bokuto are platonically adorable, minato is all might, multiverse sort of but not really, no beta we die like men, oikawa has a sunshine team that pisses him off, so many headcanons, there is no plan for this whatsoever, uzumaki kyo, wow ok where do i start
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:54:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25623238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarynw02/pseuds/jarynw02
Summary: Wherein Bakugo, Bokuto, & Kakashi are brothers. Itachi and Oikawa are best friends. Kyo is an Uzumaki cousin with half the Kyuubi. Minato is Bakugo’s Shishou he hero worships. Aizawa and Kakashi have a rivalry that goes back to their ANBU days. Naruto, Sasuke, Uraraka are Team 7. And Kageyama is an Uchiha.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Bokuto Koutarou & Hatake Kakashi, Bakugou Katsuki/Uraraka Ochako, Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	luminary objects

**Author's Note:**

> I have very little to explain myself with. 
> 
> This is entirely self-indulgent nonsense. I just... got the idea and then BAM all of Katsuki's POV was written. Ever since I first had the idea of Bokuto and Bakugo as brothers it's become a favorite crossover headcanon for me and after recently getting into Naruto (and lots of Kakashi fanfiction) the idea of another brother was born and I just couldn't stop myself.
> 
> Everything after that just sort of happened. 
> 
> All that said, this is my place to dump my angstier things and to just play around and not take myself too seriously. I'm also toying with tweaking my writing style a bit and practicing some things typically outside my comfort zone so yeah. If you happen to read this, no need to critique all that harshly, especially considering I'm BARELY editing this if at all and not using a beta. 
> 
> There are multiple things in this that I know I got wrong out of ignorance and something things that I purposefully changed to suit my needs such as age differences and time frames of events, etc. Again, please don't take me too seriously. 
> 
> And if you're here and actually interested like, wow thank you and I hope you get a little kick out of my scribbles!

“Since when?”

Golden eyes look down at him, completely unfazed by the demanding question and Katsuki glares at his brother, cursing the fact that he’s standing on the fucking first step of the stairs and  _ still  _ this asshole is taller than him. The house is long empty, despite the early morning hour and the fact that no one who lives here has bothered to eat breakfast. 

The day Kakashi eats breakfast in their kitchen is the day Katsuki sets the whole place on fire. 

So there’s that. 

Koutarou shrugs a shoulder with one of his annoying as hell ‘ _ everything is perfect my life is great nothing wrong here _ ’ smiles and continues on the path Katsuki had interrupted him on toward the engawa. Grumbling, Katsuki follows him only to lean against the threshold with cross arms and an even more cross attitude. 

“It’s nothing, Kat,” Koutarou says as he drops unceremoniously onto the sleek wood and reaches for his sandals. Dawn is complete on the horizon beyond them, the crisp chill of night lingering behind as autumn approaches steadily. “Sometimes shinobi try new things.”

“Tch,” Katsuki scoffs, resisting the urge to adjust the hitae-ate across his forehead. “Yeah, right.”

A slap rings out as Koutarou signals to the world that he’s successfully managed to put on his shoes and a bird flies out from the nearest tree to flee for safety. He tucks his chin to look at Katsuki over his shoulder and for a moment his eyes are serious in the way Koutarou only is when he’s inspired by some deranged inward competition with himself for victory. 

Katsuki narrows his stare at his older brother. 

If Koutarou is feeling competitive then it’s likely whatever this stupid plan is, it’s going to royally suck. 

“Wanna say that again to the Yondaime?” Koutarou says slowly, daring him. 

Katsuki taps a finger against his bicep, the tight pressure of the wrap there a distraction from how badly he wants to knock that idiotic smirk off his brother’s face. Finally, he clicks his teeth together with a breath of a hiss. “It was probably some council bullshit,” he says. “Shishou isn’t to blame.”

Koutarou pops up to his feet in a quick burst, bouncing on his toes a time or two before backpedaling toward the front gate across the yard. “You do realize your  _ Shishou _ is a big fat nerd, right?”

“Shut your damn mouth!” Katsuki barks, shoving off the wall to snatch his own sandals from the decking and slipping them on in smooth movement while sliding the front door closed behind him. “Isn’t it treason to talk about the Hokage that way?”

Koutarou waves a flippant hand over his shoulder as he turns along the rocky path and Katsuki begrudgingly follows him, scowling at the near-dry pond off in the corner before they step through the gate and onto the dirt road that leads further into the village. They’re early enough that the streets are still mostly bare, and Katsuki is grateful, to say the least. Ever since he’d joined a squad, gone were his peaceful days of training alongside his Shisou and his god-awful son who was only bearable because he frequently disappeared to train with his mother. Katsuki could mostly care less about Uzumaki Kushina, if only because his goal was more specific: to become a Hokage as great as Minato-shishou. 

It’s not exactly personal, but Katsuki doesn’t exactly care. 

Especially when, now, he has to share his time more than ever because of his stupid squad. Katsuki isn’t one to back down from a fight, but he’s tried to uphold the statutes of a Konoha shinobi squad unit long enough and if Kagura says  _ one more thing  _ to him about dating he’s going completely impale her in explosive kunai and never look back. 

A hand wraps around the back of his neck and he slaps it away on instinct, growling at his brother beside him as they approach the Administration Building. Koutarou widens his cheeky grin as they start to pool in with other shinobi reporting in for whatever the fuck they think they’re planning to mock the Genin today. 

Because Kakashi might be the genius of the family but Katuski is definitely doing better in that arena than Koutarou, so who the fuck thought that holding a--

“Katsuki!” 

His eyes roll so far back in his head he thinks he might just lose the ability to see this time. 

“Oh look,” Koutarou says so casually he may as well be their oldest brother, “it’s your girlfriend.”

Fury paints his vision red.

But before he can land a blow to his brother’s obnoxious face, a force slams into him from the side and he’s quickly extricating himself from Kagura’s impossible strength. Katsuki mumbles a curse for the Sannin who trained her, wherever she may be now, and frowns down at his squadmate. 

“What have I fucking told you?” he grounds out, quickly following his brother up the steps and hoping that Kagura suddenly decides she would like to switch teams. He’s sure she’d be happier on Koutarou’s team -- their energy levels give off the same amount of annoying. 

“Oh, but Katsuki,” she purs up at him from beneath her dark fringe, “you know it would be so perfect! We were put on the same squad and--”

“Save it,” he cuts her off with a shove to her face, not bothering to hold back because the Sage knows she doesn’t hold back on him. Resolutely, he turns away from her and slips in through the front doors behind Koutarou, his lip twitching at how he barely sees over his brother’s grossly too broad shoulders. Out of the three siblings, Katsuki’s loathingly the smallest, but that’s to be expected when there’s three years between him and Koutarou and six between him and Kakashi. That said, their builds are more or less the same with their similarities mostly ending there. Kakashi and Koutarou look like siblings, while Katsuki, well, Katsuki hopes he was adopted. 

But apparently in Konoha everyone knows everyone’s business and he’s had his birthparents disappointingly confirmed by more than one of his superiors, eventually including Shishou so he knows it’s true. 

“Koutarou-sensei!” Katsuki almost flinches at the feminine voice.  _ Almost _ . “I have the boys and we are ready and reporting for duty, sir!” 

Mina is another female Katsuki does his best to avoid and it seems like now is his cue seeing as how she is forcibly pushing her two squadmates with dug-in heels adamantly toward his brother. Koutarou simply grins at them, offering a cheery wave and a brisk, “Good morning!” 

It makes Katsuki sick. 

He ducks away, wandering through the growing crowd of fellow ninjas dampening the enclosed air with the tang of metal weaponry that tinges the fresh smell of the forest that follows a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf everywhere they go. His captain is typically early, though not typically visible until it’s right on time. Still, Katsuki has long learned to find a wall and some sketchy shadows, and his sensei will show up sooner or later. 

Back against the wall, he raises a foot and slips his hands into his pockets to wait, praying that Sensei will come before Kagura finds her way back to him. Just when he starts to resign himself to the girl’s assault of  _ feelings,  _ the third member of his squads appears from between two crossing Jounin and though Katsuki would never actually  _ smile  _ at him, he’s definitely happier to see him than the alternative teammate. 

“Hey,” Kenma says, the wooden puzzle in his hands clicking as it turns in nonsensical twists of his small, adept fingers. The boy doesn’t bother looking up and Katsuki doesn’t care, doesn’t even respond. The black sheep of the Nara clan, a year younger than his brother, the heir, finds his way to Katsuki’s wall even with his poorly bleached hair covering most of his face and his eyes glued to his fidget puzzle. Katsuki’s just happy to have someone close by that’s shorter than him and not a girl. 

Kagura, the fucking hurricane she is, barrels through the crowd from such a distance that Katsuki has a good minute before she’s fully crossed the room to join them. She stops before the boys in a huff, touching idle fingers to her headband that keeps all but her fringe from her face and plants her fists on her hips. Katsuki raises an irritated brow at her while Kenma keeps his gaze down. 

Lucky asshole. 

“You can’t just leave a teammate behind like that, Katsuki!” she chides him, loud enough that a few of the other Genin passing by hear her and glance in their direction. “It’s not the shinobi way!”

“My shinobi way is to always leave you behind, Kagura,” he answers her as dry as possible. Surely the more he lays on the rejection, the quicker she’ll understand, right?

Something in him tells him otherwise and he shoves that part of him right off a cliff and down a deep, dark well. 

Kagura’s lips part in a quiet pop of indignation, her cheeks tinting a rosy color and he can’t quite tell if it’s from embarrassment or rage, but either way he’s disinterested. She raises one of her fists too slowly to be anything less than a threat and takes a step toward him like a predator. Katsuki almost laughs in her face; He’s the Yondaime’s disciple and if he wants to get away from someone  _ Kagura  _ is one of the last people who could--

A hand falls atop Kagura’s head and three pairs of eyes snap up at the soft click against her hitae-ate. 

“I-Itachi-sensei!” Kagura fumbles, ridiculously, as usual, and tilts her face up to see the Uchiha standing over her with the same serenity in his eyes that Katsuki  _ knows  _ every single one of his kills has seen since he first became a shinobi. Fuck, when Itachi was his age he was already in the ANBU -- a fact of which Katsuki would  _ love  _ to forget seeing as how Kakashi moved up the ranks even quicker, though Koutarou slowed down the pace enough for Katsuki to not be entirely ashamed of his current Genin rank. 

Of course, he won’t say any of that out loud. 

Katsuki crosses his arms, waiting for Itachi-sensei to make the announcement Koutarou blurted out to him on the stairs this morning like the idiot he is. There was a time when Katsuki had admired Itachi for all his skill, a time when Katsuki had been so deadset that he had to have been adopted that he’d considered what it might have been like to grow up somewhere else. Being the brother to Uchiha Itachi hadn’t seemed all that bad, at least until he learned about all the Uchiha’s rules. 

After that, growing up as an orphan with his asshole brothers didn’t seem like all that bad of a deal; At least this way he could do whatever he wanted more or less. 

Kakashi had been gone the majority of his life, swept away in his ANBU dreams or whatever and though the prestige of such a title once seemed enticing, Katuski could care less about joining ANBU. Koutarou had tried it for less than a year before his superiors requested his removal on his behalf. Katsuki wasn’t surprised that the perpetual ray of sunshine didn’t exactly thrive in the shadows of the Leaf. 

This last year though, Kakashi had returned home for good. Well, not  _ for good _ perse, because he was still a high ranking Jounin, but his days in ANBU were over. Coincidentally, Katsuki’s squad captain had also chosen to leave honorably before his academy class had graduated, however in Itachi’s case, Katsuki was sure the decision came from the fact that Itachi’s little brother, Sasuke, was in his class. 

He wouldn’t dare say the same thing about Kakashi. 

“Kagura,” Itachi says smoothly, his voice always surprisingly deep no matter how many times Katsuki’s heard it by now. He looks over to the boys, his eyes analyzing them carefully despite the fact that they’re black right now and the Sharingan is neatly tucked away. “Katsuki. Kenma.”

“Itachi-sensei,” Katsuki answers, Kenma mumbling the same a beat after him. The other boy stops playing with his toy, slipping his hands into the pockets of his flak jacket and Katsuki would bet money that he’s still working on it one-handed inside. 

Kagura spins on Itachi, throwing her fists up beneath her chin and while this time it’s in excitement, Katsuki really wishes she’d learn to treat those fucking fists like the weapons they are and stop tossing them around everywhere. Itachi must bring so much paperwork to the Yondaime after all her collateral damage and, really, that’s just more time that Minato-shishou could be spending training with Katsuki. Kagura nearly shakes with eagerness as she looks up at the placid Uchiha and says, “We’re ready for our next mission, Sensei!”

Itachi inclines his head to the side, as ominous as fucking ever, and honestly, Katsuki thought he’d be at least a little more natural around them after a month or two as a squad, but he’s the same stalk of darkness that makes Katsuki want to roll his eyes every time he sees him. 

One of these days he might actually do it, but Katsuki typically has enough sense not to fuck around with the Sharingan. 

“No mission today,” Itachi says, his hand falling away from Kagura and nearly floating back down to his side. Kenma has half a brain to at least look like he’s paying attention and Kagura’s brows shoot up behind her bangs, but before she can undoubtedly interject, Itachi continues, “Today we’ll be participating in a practice exam.”

“A practice exam?” Kagura repeats, her mouth not slowed for a second by the sharp change in plans. “As in--”

“The Chuunin exams,” Katsuki finishes for her, unable to keep himself from nabbing her satisfaction of guessing correctly. Besides, he already knew about it anyway, stupid as it might be. 

But Itachi widens his eyes ever so slightly, but still enough to immediately grab all of their attention. “Not quite,” he says carefully. “Though this will be modeled after the Chuunin exams and scored for the sake of the village understanding where all of the new Genin are in skill, there will be other factors that set it apart as more of a… simulation.”

Katsuki frowns and doesn’t even try to hide it when he steals a glance across the room to where Koutarou is giving the same exact speech to Mina, Shikamaru, and Itachi’s veritable  _ clone  _ despite the fact he’s not Sasuke, his legitimate brother. 

“Simulation?” Kenma’s voice snaps Katsuki’s attention back to their group and he slides his hands back into his pockets to listen, but before Itachi can answer him an arm loops over his shoulders and their sensei bobs to the side as a body collides with him. 

“Itachi, Itachi,” Oikawa tsks like he’s chiding Itachi and Katsuki grits his teeth. Why is his world so full of shinobi that annoy the living hell out of him? So what if they’re a higher rank than he is? That’s temporary. The  _ real  _ Chuunin exams are coming up soon and he should be spending his time training for that instead of playing some little game with his squad for points so the council can decide who to snatch up for ANBU as soon as possible. Oikawa doesn’t seem to notice his predisposition against him, nor does he mind Itachi’s lack of a reaction as he lazily pats a hand on the Uchiha’s chest. “You and your speeches. Spare the poor kids from your exhausting rambles for at least one day, why don’t you? They’ll grow resentful, you know?”

Oikawa’s slow smirk is feline as he blatantly teases his old ANBU buddy, knowledge Katsuki regretfully has because of Koutarou’s  _ actual  _ exhausting rambles which were more than likely classified, but Katsuki will accept a little leverage toward the top if it gets him closer to wearing the hat someday. 

“I don’t think that’s anything I have to worry about, Oikawa,” Itachi says, keeping his eyes on his team and away from Oikawa and his own squad begins to assemble behind him. “They already don’t like me, a speech or two won’t hurt.”

Ashamedly, Katsuki’s jaw drops a little. He manages to keep his lips closed to cover his reaction as little more than a twitch, however Kagura is never the one to let something go so easily. Katsuki counts to three and then--

“Itachi-sensei, you have a  _ sense of humor?! _ ” 

Oikawa practically bellows with laughter at her complete shock and he roars back, opening up his arm not around Itachi’s shoulders and ropes in one of his Genin to his other side. Eijiro misses a step, jostling into Oikawa before steadying and showing off a sharp-toothed grin as his teammates step up behind him casually, the boy eating potato chips with inhuman haste entirely uncaring of the fact that they’re about to be physically tested. The girl hides behind the growing huddle of bodies and when Katsuki meets her eyes, she blushes furiously and Katsuki hopes the Sage will protect him from this one. 

He’s really been on his best behavior today and would hate to ruin it, especially right under Minato-shishou’s nose like this. 

Whispers rise in a wave that crosses over the room and stalls as voices lower in expectation and Katsuki looks past the shitshow currently happening around him to see everyone gathering near the stairs that lead up to the Chuunin and Jounin floors. There, standing just high enough for all the shinobi in the room to see down to the red-flamed tip of his robe, stands the Yondaime Hokage with a bright smile across his face. 

But another, much more subtle face has already caught Katsuki’s attention and he takes to studying the group as quickly as he can before he can’t help himself but hang on Minato-shishou’s every word. 

Naruto and Sasuke are there, the same boys Katsuki’s known for most of his life. Opposite sides of the same coin and, if he can put up with Naruto’s attitude reminding him a little too much of Koutarou’s for his own sanity, good training partners when his shishou isn’t available. With them is a round-faced girl with cheeks so pink he can see them from here and he can’t seem to remember whether he knows her or not. She definitely wasn’t at the academy with the rest of them. 

So this is it. 

This is his brother’s squad. 

Kakashi is leaning against the far wall, one leg picked up with a foot against it and his hands tucked away in his pockets. His hitae-ate is purposefully fallen over one eye, a mask covering his neck and face up to his cheekbones. 

This is the Kakashi that the rest of the world sees: the Copy Nin. 

Not the Kakashi that stumbles home once a week, or month, and hides like a coward in his room until another deathtrap mission with his name on it sends him running like the whipped puppy he is. Not the Kakashi that spends more time at a memorial stone than with either of his brothers who are still  _ alive _ . Not the Kakashi that hasn’t been able to look him in the eye since he was six. 

At least, not until now. 

The single dark eye meets his across the crowded room and Katsuki ignores the extra pump of his blood rushing through his system, the way his heart rate picks up.

But then the Hokage starts to speak and Katsuki shakes the hold his brother’s stare seems to have on him to look up at his shishou as he gathers everyone’s attention like a flame in the night. 

Still, Katsuki can’t help wondering what the hell his brother is doing becoming a captain of a Genin team after all these years of prestige he’s had to revel in. His mind drifts to Itachi along with his eyes for a single blink and he’s just in time to see his own captain glance over at his little brother, a softness there that wasn’t before. 

Katsuki drops his foot from the wall and pulls his hands from his pockets to cross his arms over his chest. It doesn’t matter. Not really. 

Kakashi can go running back to ANBU any time he likes. 

Doesn’t make any difference to Katsuki.

  
  
  
  


Kyo is only here because Kushina and Minato tricked him. Technically, Kushina tricked him into a bet with Minato that he should have seen from a mile away considering the Yondaime is also known as the Yellow Flash, but who is Kyo if he’s not completely blind with his own arrogance? Apparently, he’s a Genin. 

While he’s grateful for some guiltless time away from his stand-in family in the form of a terribly pulled together squad, fate seems to enjoy mocking him no matter the obstacle. Naruto sleeps in as late as he does, but seeing as today Minato apparently has some special announcement for all the rookie squads, the two of them were awoken by Kushina bright and early, fed, and tossed out the door in a whirlwind of fiery fury. 

“Are you coming or what?” Naruto tugs at Kyo’s sleeve, his face set in a pout that makes him look eight years old again, upset that Kyo beat him in a spar in the front yard under the watchful gaze of his mother. 

Kyo didn’t ask to become a shinobi. Didn’t ask to be born an Uzumaki, to be rescued as a baby and handed over to the only remaining of their clan with any semblance of status. He definitely didn’t ask to house half a kyuubi. 

But here he is, trailing after his younger cousin toward the Administration Building like the good little boys they are. Maybe in another life Kyo could be a missing nin, raising himself on the land, going and doing as he pleases without regard for laws and clans and whether or not his actions will crinkle the eyes of the closest person he’s ever known to a mother. 

He rips his arm back and scowls at his cousin. “I’m right here,” he snaps at him, kicking stray rocks along the last of the dirt road before they start up the stairs. “Don’t you have a squad to get to or something?”

An expected moan cuts through the growing crowd of shinobi and Naruto stomps his way to the front doors. “Don’t remind me,” he says with a curl of his nose like the thought of his team immediately reeks. Lowly, he curses and Kyo is sure he wasn’t meant to hear the quick, “ _ Sasuke _ .”

Kyo rolls his eyes as they step inside, easily slipping between passerbyers, all too accustomed to being ignored. “Whatever. At least you don’t have a Hyuuga.”

“The Byakugan is cool!” Naruto protests as he threads them through the room, eyes up and alert as he searches for his sensei. Kyo doesn’t bother. Where Kakashi is, his own sensei will soon be. Following Naruto simply saves him a little of the effort in reaching the inevitable. 

“The Sharingan is cooler,” he says snidely as they dodge another Genin with an unmistakable tuft of blonde hair peeking through a sea of black as he gestures much too emphatically in the middle of a story. A story cut off by Kyo’s sharp glare as he slides away from being backhanded in the face. 

At least Kyo can say it’s less for the inconvenience and more for the fact that where Yuu is, undoubtedly--

An arm drops on his shoulders, his head yanked against a chest. “Kyo-boy,” a smirking voice says and just as a fist settles to the top of his head, Kyo shoves the perpetrator away and wriggles out of his grip. 

He pats down his hair and slides his eyes up to his squadmate. “Tetsurou.”

A smug smile is waiting in answer and Yuu leans against his much taller friend on an elbow in an obvious effort at comedy. Kyo keeps all his facial muscles steadily in place as a rebellion against such things. 

“Hey guys,” Naruto says with a grin. He raises an arm beside Kyo to mirror Yuu and Tetsurou and Kyo promptly pushes him away with a frown, but Naruto seems undefeated and turns back to the other Genin. 

Yuu grins back showing off both rows of his teeth. “Naruto! Hey! You guys ready for the big mission today?”

“They probably already know what it is, Yuu,” Tetsurou says with a quick raise of his brows as if to validate his theory, but Naruto seems oblivious and Kyo is not about to admit to being as clueless as the rest of them. 

“Nope!” Naruto reaches back a hand to the nape of his neck and laughs a little awkwardly. “Dad didn’t mention it at all last night and he was gone this morning before we got up.”

“The Yondaime is nothing if not fair,” Tetsurou says, dignified and resolute.

Kyo considers bringing up the kyuubi resting inside the seal practically burned on his stomach but decides otherwise. 

Suddenly Naruto’s head perks up and he side-steps around Kyo before raising an eager hand and calls out, “Ochako! Ochako, over here!” 

Kyo turns with the other boys to see the girl freeze at the sound of her name and he almost feels pity for the bright blush that lights up on her cheeks as her eyes scan the room for the distinctive voice of Kyo’s cousin. He starts toward her when she finally sees him and he drags her over to their little circle. 

“Have you guys met Ochako?” Naruto asks before he carefully, and intelligently for once, decides to drop his hold on her wrist. “She’s new to the village.”

“Er, uh, hi,” she stumbles through the introduction, her cheeks still nearly luminescent with embarrassment, but beneath that Kyo can see the lines of clan markings in soft circles at the peaks of her cheekbones. 

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” the tallest of the group offers with a charming smile that does little to help the girl’s blood flow. He gestures to his comparatively tiny friend, “And this is Nishinoya Yuu.”

Yuu promptly elbows him. “I can introduce myself to her!”

“And this is my cousin, Uzumaki Kyo,” Naruto barrels onward with little regard for Yuu’s pride. 

Kyo eyes her, but does little else. 

“Well!” Tetsurou claps his hands together, interrupting Yuu’s rambling for his honor as a man and how cute Ochako is, and starts gesturing to the group in shooing motions. “I think it’s time we all found our squads, no?”

Turning on his heel, Kyo attempts to flee from them all. However, nothing in his life has ever been quite that easy and Tetsurou falls into step beside him, Naruto and Ochako lingering behind them. With a glance, Kyo can see the miracle that is their sensei arriving on time for once, but seeing as Naruto’s is close at his side it’s to be expected. 

Neji is frowning at them when they approach, his arms disappointedly crossed over his chest as he doesn’t dare deign to look at their near-tardiness. 

“Mine were first,” Aizawa-sensei says under his breath from his spot leaning against the wall. 

Without even glancing over, Kakashi answers, “Maa, maa, mine are all here too.”

Sure enough, Uchiha Sasuke is also pouting off to Kakashi’s side as Naruto and Ochako sidle up to him, the former launching into conversation whether or not his comrades will participate, though Ochako seems more inclined to humor him than anyone who actually knows him well enough by now not to. 

“Neji!” Tetsurou throws his arms open as if to embrace the bristling Hyuuga, but his smirk remains even after his arms slowly lower at the lack of response from their teammate. “Are you ready for today?”

After a beat, Neji turns to look up at Tetsurou with poorly disguised disdain and says, “I think the better question is whether you are. Think you’ll be able to pay attention this time?”

“Hey now,” Tetsurou says lightly with a wave. “That kunai only clipped my shoulder. I hardly think that counts as--”

“I mean the time you didn’t bother to pack for an overnight mission because you weren’t listening when--”

“A shinobi packing light doesn’t necessarily mean--”

“Quiet.”

Three heads turn up to Aizawa-sensei who’s watching them with narrowed eyes framed with his newest set of dark-circles. The rumor is that they’re from his time working in Intelligence and actually have nothing to do with his sleep patterns, but Kyo’s never been big on trusting gossip. 

“Aizawa-sensei,” Tetsurou says his name with a little more respect than the casual way he’s thrown around Kyo and Neji’s, but the underlying wit is always twisting his words a little toward taunting. “Do we finally get to know what this big secret group mission is?”

Aizawa-sensei casts a quick check of Kakashi over his shoulder before fully addressing them. “It’s not a mission, but a test,” he says and Neji visibly straightens. “The Yondaime will be explaining it shortly, so it’s meaningless for me to beat him to it.”

As if on cue, a hush falls over the room and Kyo takes a moment to scan the crowd. He’d apparently been wrong in expecting only the rookie Genin to be participating considering the turnout, but still he can find them all easily enough. Kakashi’s brother’s squad is tucked toward the back of the room with the pink-haired girl holding Tobio and Shikamaru firmly in place with a smile that beams as bright at her sensei’s. The other Hyuuga is in the opposite corner with Yuu and Shouto, all faithfully listening to Miruko who is undoubtedly doing her best to force some passion into her squad, though Yuu hardly needs it. 

Against the wall across from Kyo and Naruto’s squads is Oikawa and Itachi, the youngest Hatake brother almost a mirror image of his eldest brother behind Kyo with his back to the wall and a foot raised. Stick a mask over his face and drop his hitae-ate a little and they’d be twins the way they’re both barely hiding their dead eyes scanning the room. Tohru and Kagura are at both squad’s centers, despite their entirely opposite personalities, though Eijiro has devoted eyes trained on Tohru despite Oikawa talking to the group, while Kenma seems much more comfortable pretending he’s nothing more than Katsuki’s shadow. 

So, maybe, as far as teams go, Kyo’s isn’t the worst of them. 

In fact, they’re all terrible and his entire class is doomed to fail this miserable test.

But when the Yondaime Hokage descends the steps to his left, Kyo gives him his attention despite himself. Bright, piercing blue eyes find him for the briefest moment and Kyo shrinks under it. This is the man who took him in when no one else would. The man who accepted him as his own, who has never once treated him any less than he’s treated his own son. The man who started teaching him taijutsu the moment he showed interest, the man who makes sure to be home for dinner more nights a week than he’s not despite being the Hokage and always checks in on Kyo to see how his training is going. 

Kamikaze Minato is the closest thing he’s ever had to a father figure --  _ is  _ his father figure if he’s being honest with himself. 

But this is also the man who condemned him to the stares and whispers, to the lifetime of being perpetually  _ other _ . He’s the one who sealed the kyuubi inside Kyo and Naruto alike and for some reason that’s never sat right with him. 

Raising a hand to his gut in a blind motion, he catches Minato’s eye before he can look over to make the same contact with Naruto.

Because, in the end, he’s always thought there had to have been a better way.

**Author's Note:**

> HI HELLO YOU HAVE MADE IT TO THE END
> 
> I'd really like feedback on whether anyone found this enjoyable outside myself! It's been a pretty fun concept to play with honestly. So comments are greatly encouraged! Thank you for reading!! 
> 
> If you are reading my other work, One Day at a Time, please know the next chapter is in the works and it has not been abandoned! I love you all!
> 
> Feel free to befriend (stalk) me on Twitter @jarynw02


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